How many Americans can't afford health insurance?
About half of U.S. adults say it is difficult to afford health care costs, and one in four say they or a family member in their household had problems paying for health care in the past 12 months.
Fifty-one percent of working-age Americans struggle to afford their health care and about one of three (32%) are saddled with medical debt, according to findings from a Commonwealth Fund survey released today.
If you don't have health insurance, you're at much greater risk of accumulating medical bills that you may not be able to pay. In a worst-case scenario, you could be sued and have your wages garnished. You might even be forced into bankruptcy.
uninsurance has been attributed to a number of factors, including rising health care costs, the economic downturn, an erosion of employer-based insurance, and public program cutbacks. Developing effective strategies for reducing uninsurance requires understanding why people lack insurance coverage.
The complexity of the U.S. healthcare system can lead to administrative waste in the insurance and provider payment systems. The consolidation of hospitals can lead to a lack of competition or even a monopoly, granting providers the opportunity to increase prices.
In 2021, about 4.5 billion people, more than half of the global population, were not fully covered by essential health services. And this estimate does not yet reflect the potential long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
4.5 Billion People Lack Coverage for Essential Health Services | Global Health | JAMA | JAMA Network.
Texas is still the state with the highest percentage of uninsured residents, at nearly 17 percent, according to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau survey released Thursday. Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune's daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
California continues to make remarkable progress in expanding access to health coverage, including by expanding Medi-Cal eligibility to undocumented residents. We project that by 2024 approximately 2.57 million Californians under age 65 (7.9% of the population) will be uninsured.
If you look at the numbers, there simply isn't enough spare money in the budget to be able to afford to put every citizen on a Medicare/Medicaid program. However, if a deeper look is taken into other programs and tax breaks, affordability is possible.
Why is health insurance unaffordable?
Healthcare system complexity
This complexity often results in administrative inefficiencies, increased paperwork, and higher operational costs for both healthcare providers and insurers. These added expenses are eventually passed on to consumers in the form of higher insurance premiums, deductibles, and copayments.
The Best Healthcare Systems in the World in 2024
What country has the best healthcare, according to this assessment? Singapore comes in at No. 1!
In a nationally representative sample of more than 6,000 adults under 65, half (51%) said that it was very or somewhat difficult to afford their healthcare costs. Not surprisingly, healthcare costs presented the greatest burden to people without health insurance, 76% of whom reported difficulty affording these costs.
There are many factors that contribute to the high cost of healthcare in the country. These include wasteful systems, rising drug costs, medical professional salaries, profit-driven healthcare centers, the type of medical practices, and health-related pricing.
In 2022, 26 million people — or 7.9 percent of the population – were uninsured, according to a report in September 2023 from the Census Bureau. While those numbers represent a significant portion of the population, the uninsured rate in 2022 was the lowest since 2017.
In the 1950s, the price of hospital care doubled. Now in the early 1960s, those outside the workplace, especially the elderly, have difficulty affording insurance. Over 700 insurance companies selling health insurance.
In 2022, more than 1 in 4 adults (28%) reported delaying or going without either medical care, prescription drugs, mental health care, or dental care due to cost.
All Canadian citizens and permanent residents receive medically necessary hospital and physician services free at the point of use. This does not mean, however, that healthcare is free in Canada. Most government funds for Canadian Medicare, as their health system is called, come from collected taxes.
The price of medical care is the single biggest factor behind U.S. healthcare costs, accounting for 90% of spending. These expenditures reflect the cost of caring for those with chronic or long-term medical conditions, an aging population and the increased cost of new medicines, procedures and technologies.
However, Brazil is the only country in the world that offers free healthcare for all its citizens. Also, Norway is the first country in the world to implement a free healthcare policy as far back as 1912. Coincidentally, Norway is recognized as one of the healthiest countries in the world.
Is health insurance worth it?
Health insurance provides important financial protection in case you have a serious accident or sickness. People without health coverage are exposed to these costs. This can sometimes lead people without coverage into deep debt or even into bankruptcy.
Without health insurance coverage, a serious accident or a health issue that results in emergency care and/or an expensive treatment plan can result in poor credit or even bankruptcy.
Why are people uninsured? Despite policy efforts to improve the affordability of coverage, many uninsured people cite the high cost of insurance as the main reason they lack coverage. In 2022, 64% of uninsured nonelderly adults said that they were uninsured because the cost of coverage was too high.
Between high insurance costs, inadequate transportation systems and appointment availability issues, potential patients often encounter insurmountable obstacles to the health care they need and deserve.
In 2019, adults aged 18–44 were the most likely to be uninsured (17.0%), compared with adults aged 45–64 (11.1%) and children under age 18 years (5.1%).
